


Reconsiderations of Worthiness

by riprot



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Canon Divergence, DMC5 SPOILERS, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post DMC5, Vergil is out there whole and alive but he’s not a part of this story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25599139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riprot/pseuds/riprot
Summary: V is still alive and he’s trying to cope with that.(aka Me resurrecting and projecting onto a character for way too long)
Relationships: Kyrie/Nero (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	Reconsiderations of Worthiness

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I wrote this in 2019 pretty much immediately after finishing dmc5 for the first time. I came back this year to reread and make a few edits and decided “Fuck it. I’ll post it. No one is going to read it anyway.” 
> 
> Be gentle with me if you do read this please. I’m nervous about posting haha

So sure that this husk of a form would finally be returned, V stabs his cane into the eye seated in the center Urizen's chest. The shouts of dismay at his actions were drowned out by the rush of blood in his ears. Euphoria washed over him as his crumbling form submitted to its own weight. His vision blurs blue then fades to black as his task was finally complete. 

V came to. It was unpleasant and rough. His throat dry as he wheezed out a cough so violent it shook his frame. Nausea became apparent, along with a throbbing in his skull, just behind his eyes. He screwed them shut before he's able to take in his surroundings. It's difficult to breathe deeply. 

"Welcome back to the land of the living." It was Nero. 

V's arms ache reaching up to press the heels of his hands against his eyes. They must be in Nico's van. He could hear her lighter flick as she mumbled something he can't quite make out. 

"Knock it off, would ya?" Nero says, his footsteps thudding as he came over to V. 

"Just sayin." Came her reply. 

"I've failed," V rasped. He could feel his body still weak and frail, he hadn't merged back with his demon half. 

"I'd say otherwise," Nero said, half amused over him. 

V let his hands fall so he could squint up at him. The act makes him dizzy. 

Nero smirked over him. "You've been out for a week while we've been doing some clean up around Redgrave, but you stabbed some sense back into Vergil."

On top of all the aches and pains that came with existing, a deep pit opened in his chest. "Why then, am I still here?" 

Nero frowned, silently asking him to elaborate. Instead, V coughs again. It's pathetic enough for Nero to reach out a hand to pull him up into a sitting position on the leather couch. He has to shut his eyes again, a wave of vertigo making him sick. Nero pushed a plastic bottle of water into his hands then sits down in the chair across from him. Elbows on his knees, watching him like a parent making sure their child takes a pill. 

"Nico, could you take that shit outside?" Nero bit out when he heard her light a second cigarette. 

She scoffed from the driver's seat but relents. "You're lucky he looks like shit, otherwise I'd be telling you to suck it up." The door slams, shaking the van. 

V had barely noticed the smell. He looked down at the bottle of water in his hands, which tremor slightly. The marks of his familiars still tracing up his hands and arms, hair still black as it fell into his eyes. His skin seemed to be intact, no longer threatening to crumble into dust. It was a small comfort.

"She's been in a bit of a mood since we dropped Lady and Trish off."

"I see."

"Do you need help with that?" Nero pointed at the water. 

"No, I'm-" but V's hand slid weakly against the cap. 

Nero took it, his hands warm compared to V's. "I should have opened it beforehand, sorry." The cap clicks under his grasp. 

"Your arm." The comment felt stupid, but every word hurt. 

Nero grinned, handing the opened bottle back to him. "Pretty neat, huh?"

V watched him flex his fingers and wrist. 

"I have no idea how it came back but, here it is. Nico told me I might be part lizard."

V felt several lines of a verse tug at his lips and drowned them out with a sip of water. 

Nero's grin dropped. "How are you feeling?"

Like hell had sewn him back together in apology for ripping him to shreds. "I've been better. Vergil is whole again?" 

"Seems like it." Nero leaned back, resting his left arm on the table next to him. He sounded bitter. "That's what it looked like when I last saw the bastard." He looked down at his right hand and studied it. "My father and Dante are still in the underworld. Left us here so they could cut the final Qliphoth roots." He spat out the word father like venom. 

"Vergil is your father?" 

"Weird, right? I still don't quite believe it myself." He made a fist. "At least I got to beat the shit out of him."

V took another sip of water, considering that. None of it really added up. Flashes of Vergil's more dramatic memories came to mind. V remembered the trauma, the feelings of weakness and helplessness, the lust for power. Having a son? He had no recollection of that. 

"What am I?" Hes asked himself more than Nero and it made his head throb. Nero doesn't answer the question beyond furrowing his brow anyway. 

It doesn't matter. He felt exhausted.The pain behind his eyes had begun to fade but the ache in his bones still screamed. 

Nero picked up on his weaning energy and sighed. "Finish that water. Once Nico is back we'll be back on the road to Fortuna." He gave V's shoulder a passing reassuring squeeze, then is gone outside to talk to Nico. 

The next time he woke, V's heart thudded as saliva filled his mouth. He sat up, breathing heavy. This body had not yet experienced it before, but he knew he was going to vomit. 

"Stop the car," he groaned. 

Nero took one concerned glance back and echoed his request. For once, Nico's lead foot is a blessing as it managed to get them stopped on the side of the road in seconds. Nero jumped outside to wrench the door closest to V open and Nico helped him stumble into the hot sun outside, pleading with him to not 'blow chunks in my baby.' 

He fell to his knees and heaves once before black ichor forced its way up his throat and onto the grass at the side of the road. He's vaguely aware of Griffon and Shadow materializing next to him. Sweat covered his face and arms. Cars pass behind them as V continued to retch what felt like his entire body weight onto the ground. He's shaking by the end of it.

Nico let out a low whistle, squatting next to him and his surprisingly quiet demons. "Never seen anythin like that before. You dyin or something?"

He mustered up a grim smile as he stared out at the field stretching out in front of him. "It's possible." He looked back to find Nero absent from the scene. 

Nico noticed his searching glance and huffed. "That big baby hates puke. Blood and guts and gore, he's fine. Someone starts upchucking and he's shaking like a leaf with his hands over his ears." 

The image brings forth a weak laugh from him.

She tapped the side of his arm with the back of her hand. "You good?"

He nodded. 

Nico stood. "I'm going to check on him. Come back in when you're ready to go."

Griffon watched her until the door shut then turned to stare at him. "You okay, V?"

Shadow leaned into him and chuffed, her fur too hot in the sun. 

"I'm not sure." He tried to spit the last taste of bile from his mouth but it lingered. His breathing was closer to being even, at least. 

Griffon hopped closer. "If I'm being honest, I'm not sure why we're still alive, but let me tell ya, it's good to see ya again."

V uses Shadow to help him stand, missing his cane all the while. “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite." He smiled down at the demons. "It's good to see you too."

The bird scoffed, jumping up to perch on Shadow, who followed V back into the van. 

"Oh good, the blue chicken is back too. Didn't Dante give you a good enough ass kicking?" Came Nero's snide remark once inside. At least it would have been snide if Nero wasn't so pale and his voice so thin. 

Griffon bristled anyway and leapt from Shadow to glide onto the dashboard. "Speak for yourself, kid. You look like you're about to give up the ghost!" 

Nero's complexion doesn't get any better when Griffon pretends to dry heave in front of him. 

Nico lunged for him. "Git yer talons off my dash!"

Griffon hopped out of the way and cackled, ready to insult her as well. 

Amidst the squawking and shouting Shadow nudged V into the couch. She climbed up next to him and rests her heavy head in his lap. When V pet her she sighed and let her eyes fall shut. She's warm against him, acting like a space heater in the air conditioned van. His eyelids felt heavy, but the ache his body still felt kept him awake. 

After a particularly nasty comment about the cleanliness of Nico's car, Griffon cackled once more and hopped into the back, finding a place to settle above the jukebox. 

Excitement over,Nico pulled back out onto the highway. V isn't sure why he got back into the van. Not that he'd make it far, but he could have stood up and walked away. Disappear into the tall grass that passed around them in a blur. 

The next he woke was to Nero giving his shoulder a slight shake and standing over him. Outside the window looked to be a garage. 

"You still with us?" He asked.

V hummed a sigh through his nose. He rolled his shoulders, neck aching from sleeping in a sitting position. The demons had long since returned to his markings.

"I'm surprised you didn't wake up when Nico started screaming at traffic. I told her to be quiet but you didn't wake up for anything."

V smirked. "Slept like the dead, did I?"

Nero grinned back. "Sure did." He stepped to the side to give V room to stand. "Kyrie made dinner, we should get inside before Nico eats it all."

Soft spoken, but insistent, Kyrie usherd V into a small dining room, pushing him to sit at a round dark wood table with four spots set. Nico sat at one, her plate piled with some kind of pasta, covered in a creamy sauce. A couple paintings hung from the white walls, depicting various outdoor landscapes. Soft yellow light came from a fixture hanging from the center of the room. 

"Just enough room for all of us," Kyrie said as she pushed him with little force into a chair of the same dark wood as the table with carvings of flowers flowing up its legs. 

"She's lying," Nico elbowed him from the left, her mouth full, "there's a leaf hidden in a closet upstairs."

Nero sat to V's right, piling a healthy serving of pasta onto V's plate. He's giving him a grin before he even has a chance to object. 

Kyrie shrugged to herself. "It's so heavy, I have trouble putting it in by myself." 

Nico swallowed her food. "That's why you need a tough girl like me to do all your heavy lifting,"She flexed with a fork still in her hand. 

It earned a small laugh from Kyrie. "I knew I kept you around for a reason."

Like a light Nico beamed up at her. Nero rolled his eyes, moving on to plate some pasta for Kyrie. 

"I left the wine in the kitchen, do any of you need anything else?" Kyrie asked, pausing in the doorway. 

"We're good," Nico waved, dismissive, already back to focusing on her food. 

"Every day, I wonder why we put up with you," Nero said, settling back to serve himself. 

"Uh, who else is going to fix up your shit when your dumbass wrecks it," Nico stated matter of factly. 

V did his best to fight back the smirk forming on his face. It must have looked like a grimace because Nero elbowed him, concern drawn into his brows. "You okay? You haven't touched your food."

He hadn't. V stared down at the plate. He knew the taste of bile, dirt, blood, and sweat. He even knew the the taste of ozone as it crackled in the aftermath of an intense encounter. The pasta stared back at him. Vague snippets of eating dinner with his mother and Dante are there, but they aren't his memories. They're Vergil's, boxed up and left in the attic of V's consciousness. 

He knew how to eat and had an idea of what it would taste like but in his several months of existence he had never felt hungry or thirsty, though since vomiting earlier that day he had felt a gnawing pain in his stomach. Several excuses came to mind as to why he hadn't started eating. 

"I've never eaten anything before," He said instead, feeling dumb. 

A fork clattered to the left of him, he looked up to see Nico's mouth hanging in abject horror, as if he told her the van was on fire with everything in it. To the right of him Nero isn't much better, his eyebrows raised to a comical degree, mouth pressed into a flat line. 

"Did something happen?" Kyrie asked, from behind them, wine in hand. 

A hand clapped V on the shoulder, as Nico shouted, "This man right here just said he's never had the pleasure of eating! Do you believe this?"

"Oh my," Kyrie replied in a voice that said she absolutely did not believe her. She circled the table, setting the wine down before sitting. 

"Lucky for you." Nero snatched the wine before Nico could get at it. "Kyrie has the best cooking in Fortuna."

V picked up his fork and pressed it into several penne noodles then brought it up to his mouth. Being under their scrutiny overwhelmed him so he shut his eyes to avoid their stares and focus on the flavor. 

"So? How is it?" Nico inquired as he chews thoughtfully. 

V swallowed and opened his eyes. It was really unlike anything he had ever tasted previously. Feeling as though he could cry, he stabbed another forkful. "Im not sure I have the words to describe it."

A small smile played on Kyrie's lips. "I'll take that as a compliment."

His reaction sparked Nico to march out of the room. "Stay right there."

Nero took the opportunity to start pouring an excess amount of wine into V's glass. "She's going to make you try everything in the fridge, you know."

V smirked. "I'm not particularly opposed to that."

He indulged her, taking small bites of the fruits, vegetables, and cheeses she pushed at him. It was amusing to watch her face light up just to fall every time he told her that "it's good" without much else in the way of commentary. Nothing compared to that first bite of pasta, much to Nico's frustration as dinner went on. In between bites he drank the wine. While it's not his favorite taste, he enjoyed the fuzzy tiredness that followed it. He found himself propping an elbow onto the table resting his head on his hand. She's on her third glass when Nico decided she is only going to hand feed him grapes the rest of the night. 

He's hardly paid attention to the conversation but forced himself to listen when Kyrie said, "I'm thankful you all made it back in one piece."

"Yeah," Nico agreed, pushing another grape into V's mouth."It was one hell of a ride." 

V bit down into the grape and studied the grain of the table. He felt foggy and unsure of what to say. Was he thankful to still be in one piece? He couldn't see Nero's face as he was mostly turned towards Nico, but he heard the chair next to him creak. 

"It's, uh, good to be back," Nero said, not sounding ready to unpack everything that happened right there at the dinner table. 

Kyrie doesn't push them. Instead, she smiled sweetly and stands. She began bussing the table. Nero tried to stand but she pushes him back down. "You've done enough for the world for a while, let me clean up."

Exasperated, Nero asked, "What? Am I just supposed to sit back here and watch this?" 

Kyrie shrugged reaching in front of V to take his plate.

"She's got you literally eating out of the palm of her hand, V," Nero was practically whining. 

V shifted his head to face Nero to watch his expression with raised his eyebrows. 

Nico jabbed a quiet, "Ya jealous?" And V can't help the small quirk of his lips. 

Nero, to his credit, kept his disgust to a minimum. “No, you guys are weird.”

Nico began to compare feeding him to the deer she used to feed when she was younger and V tuned it out. His eyelids felt heavy. He let his fingers pass through his hair, head sliding down into the crook of his elbow.Sighing, he shut his eyes. If he really wanted to, he could sleep right here. It's the most relaxed he's felt in what seems to be his whole life. 

"Oh would you look at that," Nico cooed behind him, "wish I had my camera."

Nero snorted. "Looks like it's getting close to bedtime, huh buddy?"

V's legs are stiff and he has to use the wooden handrail as he follows Nero upstairs to the guest bedroom. Nico had joined Kyrie in the kitchen moments ago to help with the dishes. 

"Nico usually sleeps here when she stays the night, but she can take the couch," Nero explained, already at the top of the stairs. 

Pictures line the wall with group photos. Most revolve around Kyrie, Nero, and Nico at various landmarks. Dante even makes an appearance in a few. 

He stopped to study a larger one near the halfway point. It's a group, larger than the rest of the pictures, standing in two neat rows in a church, staggered by a stone staircase. Kyrie isn't hard to spot, her red hair drawing the eye. She stood near the edge of the back row in an ornate, white dress. In the row in front of her stood someone in a holy knight's apparel with hair matching the color of the man who leaned against the bannister above him. 

"She can take the bed if you're going to stand there all night."

V pointed to the familiar face in the photo, "I never took you to be the religious type."

"I'm not." Nero rubbed his newly regrown arm, staring off. "Kyrie and Credo were my only family growing up, I only joined that cult so we wouldn't get separated."

"Ah, so that explains your expression. Not sure if it explains the hair cut, though."

Nero rolled his eyes. "You're one to talk. You coming up or not?"

The guest bedroom is simple. Grey and blue tones of the walls and comforter compliment each other. It's lit by a simple lamp sitting on the nightstand. An empty desk without a chair was shoved up under a window overlooking the back yard. V stood near it and watched clouds roll past a still rising moon. 

Nero is crouched, digging through a dresser next to him. "I have extra clothes I never wear in here if you want to borrow some. Can't imagine the leather is comfortable to sleep in."

"You don't have to show me such kindness."

"They're just clothes, it's nothing to get all broody over." 

Nero set a haphazardly folded grey t-shirt and sweatpants onto the desk. A high pitched, hyena laugh rang out from downstairs. At least someone found Nico funny. 

"Do you need to shower or anything? I can set a towel out for you."

V leaned his hip against the desk, amused. "Will you be reading a bedtime story to me as well?"

Nero shook his head and chuckled. "Alright, asshole. You can find a towel yourself then." He crossed the room to the door, pausing to turn towards V, "G'night."

"Good night, Nero."

Then he was gone. 

An empty feeling followed in Nero's absence. The thought of crawling into bed was too tempting now, the shower could wait until tomorrow. He summoned Shadow to close the door for him, too tired to do it himself. She laid down against it, blinking slowly. His fingers fumbled unlacing the leather shirt, string slipping out of his grasp enough times that he opts to shimmy it off his torso and over his head after it loosened. He picked up the t-shirt with two hands, holding it out in front of him. Some kind of punk rock band on the front with tour dates on the back. When combined with the sweatpants he felt like he was swimming in clothes. 

V hesitated, standing in the center of the room and caught his reflection in the window. It all felt too natural to feel so comfortable. He stared at himself. The silence in the room suddenly felt deafening. He summoned Griffon to fill the empty feeling. The bird perched on the desk, took one look at him, then started to roast V on how tiny he looks in those clothes before he can even breathe a word. It's grating but a welcome distraction that made it easier for him to get into bed. He could count on one hand the number of real beds he's slept in. Eventually Griffon quiets down, hopping from the desk onto the bed. He tucked his talons under himself and settled on top of the comforter. 

"What's eatin ya?" The bird asked, tilting his head. 

"I'm-" V struggled to think, burying himself further into the bed. "Am I my own person?"

"Oh boy."

"Am I just a husk?"

"V-"

But he can't stop the train of thought, "I've completed my task but I'm still here. I am a representation of someone's rejected humanity. Why do I remain when that humanity has been returned? What happened to Urizen?"

"This is gettin too deep, let's bring it a little closer to the surface, huh?"

V stared down at Griffon in a silent challenge. 

Griffon cringed. "Listen, I don't have answers for you, that's all I'm sayin. If I were to offer you any advice, I'd tell ya to stop thinking about it. Take me for example," he motioned to himself in a grand gesture with his wing, "I'm alive, I don't know why I'm alive. I just am. Simple as that." He pointed to Shadow, who has fallen asleep on the floor and spoke with affection, "Take shit for brains as another one. She knows absolutely fuck all, dumb as a box of rocks, and guess what? Not a care in the world."

"It is not that simple," but the fight is gone from V. He reached over to turn the light off and did his best to get comfortable in the too soft sheets. Griffon clicked his beak once but doesn't say any more.

Knocking at the door brought V to consciousness. The ache in his body still there, but it was a distant buzz when compared to how he felt last night. He had not opened his eyes but he can already see the light filtering into the room behind his eyelids. The door opened and a weightagainst him shifted, Shadow must have joined him at some point in the night. He cracked his eyes open to see Kyrie peeking into the room, a soft smile on her lips. 

"Looks like you had a little slumber party last night," just like her smile, her voice is soft, full of warmth. She opened the door a little wider, leaning on the door knob. Her hair is pulled up off of her face. "Sorry to wake you up, but Nico and Nero are making breakfast. How do you like your coffee?"

He did everything in his power not to pretend he didn't hear or see her, roll over, and surrender to the comfort. He forced himself to sit up and rub the sleep from his eyes. "I'm not sure. I've never tried it before." 

She hummed. "I'll get some fruit juice out for you then."

Griffon stirred, stretching his wings out and into V's face without any regard for his surroundings. Kyrie laughed to herself in complete opposition to the hyena cackle she had last night. "I'll let you guys wake up in peace. They'll be ready in about ten minutes if you're interested in eating."

"Thank you." 

"I like her," Griffon chuckled after she shut the door. 

V let himself fall back into bed and sighed. Shadow followed suit, resting her head back on his chest. 

"If she were a demon, I'd ask if you couldmake a contract with her, just for me." 

"Silence, pest."

"Ohoho, cranky are ya?" Griffon stretched out his legs and strutted up V's body, Shadow huffed and moved out of his way when the bird reached his chest. "Didn't get enough beauty sleep, princess?" Talons dug in where the covers had fallen away. "God only knows you need it."

"I have half a mind to put you away." V gave a half-hearted smack to the side of the beast's head that turned into giving him a light scratch under the chin. 

Curling up into the space V leaves, Shadow stayed behind in bed. Griffon however, hitched a ride on his shoulder in his descent down to the first floor. He spotted Kyrie waving him over from the living room. She was wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, a cup of coffee in her hands. There was even a cup of what appeared to be orange juice set out for him. V pulled the sweatpants that threatened to fall off his hips up then joined her, unsure of how he should position himself. There's some swearing and scraping coming from what he assumes is the kitchen, but it was hard to see through the doorway at this angle. 

"I see you brought your friend."

The bird puffed out his chest, "The name's Griffon, baby," he held a wing out to her, "Nice to meet ya."

Kyrie's eyes lit up. She reached out to grasp lightly at feathers, mimicking a handshake and laughing. "I'm Kyrie."

"I'm not sure Nero or Nico will approve of this...friendship," V said, trying to hide his smile. 

"What, with little ol' me?" Griffon jumped down to sit next to the woman and pretended to preen. "I'm harmless."

As if on cue in some kind of comedic play, Nico walked into the room a question half formed on her lips, only to pause when she spotted Griffon having a good time. "The hell is that." A comment seeming harsh and out of place for a woman wearing bunny slippers if it hadn't come from Nico. 

Griffon feigned offense, "That's no way to talk to a friend, Nicoletta."

"Uh-uh. No. You don't get to be buddy-buddy with me." 

"Oh Nico, relax," Kyrie pleaded, "I think he's rather charming."

It's a compliment Griffon will hold onto forever. He looked like he was over the moon. 

Nico crossed her arms. "Yeah well, that makes one of us. How do you want your eggs?"

"Over easy, please."

Nico looked to V, "I'll make yours scrambled since I know you don't have a preference yet." She shot Kyrie a look that said 'you're insane' then retreated back into the kitchen shouting, "Chicken's on the menu," to Nero. 

Kyrie looked down at Griffon, "Sounds like you're a little troublemaker." She bopped him on the beak with a gentle finger then resumed petting him. Griffon was smitten with her. He melted into her touch. 

To Nico's dismay, Griffon migrated into Kyrie's lap and feel asleep by the time she came back with their breakfast. She wore her disgust openly and handed them their plates, as if he were a little cockroach that had crawled out from behind the couch. She then took her spot in an overstuffed recliner, as close to the bird as she could stand. 

Nero joined them moments later, scoffing at Kyrie's predicament of trying to find a good place to hold her plate without setting it directly on top of Griffon. He sat down in the other armchair, balancing his plate with one hand and fork with the other. 

For a while the only sound in the room is silverware clinking on plates. It didn't feel awkward or strained like the few meals shared in Nico's van. The silence here felt pleasant. 

Until it's not. Nothing changed in the room but the eggs in his mouth are hard to swallow when he thought about what's going to happen to him. He was welcomed to stay overnight in this home, but that was only for the night. Sure they would let him stay a few more nights, but what would happen when he wore out his welcome? V didn’t know where he fit. 

Being trapped in limbo made him set his half eaten breakfast on the coffee table, unable to stomach anything else. Nero caught the act, eyes following V's hands before flicking up to his face. V did his best to keep his expression neutral. It would be uncouth to have his distress so plainly written across his face. Nero shoved a piece of toast into his mouth, expression unreadable, eyes drawn to Nico now, who started to gush about her ideas on improving her devil breaker designs. 

V's hands itched for something to do. A book would be nice, any book. Even when he wasn't reading, absently turning the pages had been soothing in the past. Even a small distraction would help calm the endless questions plaguing him. Now all he could do is rub the bones where wrist and hand meet and wait for whatever the day brings him. 

Unsurprising and mundane, the day brought him a shower. V slipped away the moment Nico started cleaning up to hide away in the bathroom upstairs after grabbing his clothes from the guest bedroom. He stole a small amount of soap and shampoo to scrub himself down with until his hands get tired in the shower. Its fruity, but not bothersome. A towel is not hard to find after that, tucked away in a cupboard. But he can't bring himself to look into the mirror as he combed his fingers through snarled hair. Even if obscured by the condensation he doesn't want to see who stared back. 

He was startled when Nero found him in the hallway. "Hey, I was wondering where you went" there was a pause like he was still trying to figure out what he wanted to say. He rubbed his nose and looked to the floor. "I don't know how to ask this without sounding like a jackass, but you don't have anywhere to stay do you?"

A wave of calm washed over V, he got to play house for a night, now here came the inevitable. "Have I overstayed my welcome?" He asked cooly. 

"What?" Nero looked at him, confusion apparent across his features. "No, not at all. I've been meaning to ask if you wanted to stay here, but I had no idea how to ask." He shrugged. "We just kind of took you in without really asking if you actually wanted anything to do with us."

Oh.

Nero placed a hand on V's shoulder. "Did you think you were going to get kicked out or something?" His voice too gentle and concerned for a man who took pleasure in shredding demons apart. 

Not that V was any better, he stared off at the wall to the left of Nero's head. "I was unsure." He felt almost ashamed that he assumed the worst. After everything, he's not sure he deserved this kind treatment. 

"Well don't be," Nero's grin is wide, "We'll take care of ya, alright?" 

V felt his chest draw in tight as he tried to breathe, he still can't look the other in the eye. "I appreciate it. Thank you, Nero." 


End file.
